Inmates at Hardeman County Jail were moved to several other facilities Monday morning after the jail's camera system failed.

The camera system, which Sheriff John Doolen said has been on the fritz for six to eight months, failed around 8:10 a.m. Just under 70 inmates were transported to several jails in West Tennessee. One pod of about 45 inmates remains in the Hardeman facility, directly in front of the central control area.

Doolen said there isn't a concrete timeline for moving the inmates back into Hardeman.

"We are actually in communications with several companies right now," Doolen said. He hopes to have the camera system replaced in less than a week and a half, he said.

"Until we get some eyes, it's kind of hard to run the facility," Doolen said.

The cameras in Hardeman County Jail have gone down periodically over the past several months, but usually came back online immediately, Doolen said. The jail started the bid process for a replacement system several months ago, but only one company put in a bid.

Doolen said they are now considering other companies and have opted to search for a digital system instead of analog.

Any inmates that come into the Hardeman facility will be held in the intake area, Doolen said.

"They're in direct contact with the booking officers until we get them the opportunity to either bond out or whatever the judge is going to do with them, and then we'll ship them out to other facilities," Doolen said.

Reach Cassandra Stephenson at ckstephens@jacksonsun.com or at (731) 694-7261.